


McGonagall's Last Great Romance

by hufflemoon



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Harry Potter Setting, Bisexual McGonagall, F/F, Female Relationships, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Lesbian Characters, One Shot, suggested sexual content
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-13
Updated: 2017-06-13
Packaged: 2018-11-13 18:47:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,006
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11191170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hufflemoon/pseuds/hufflemoon
Summary: After the death of her husband, Minerva McGonagall thought she was done with romance. That is, until an attractive young woman is hired to be her teaching assistant. A fluffy and sweet story of two people unable to contain their feelings for each other.





	McGonagall's Last Great Romance

**Author's Note:**

> Pumped this out over the last couple days. One day I might go back and add to it. Feel free to leave a comment if there's a scene you're dying to read more on! Enjoy!

Professor Minerva McGonagall was no stranger to passion. Her life, thus far, had been a series of romantic flings, all of them serious, and all of them heartbreaking. She found herself time and time again putting her career first, her students first, and love… Well, love was in the past.

So it happened that in the summer of 1989, just four years after the tragic death of her husband, when a brilliant former student applied for a teaching assistant position in the transfiguration department, the last thing Minerva McGonagall was expecting was for love to tap on her shoulder once more.

***

Hogwarts teaching assistants were few and far between. The school itself did not necessarily require the position as a prerequisite for teaching, but it was strongly encouraged. Researchers and aspiring teachers often applied for the opportunity to train under the guidance of some of the world’s best subject experts, despite the lack of job openings, but only the best of the best were selected. With the exception of those who moved directly into a retiring professors’ role, as in the case with Professors Snape and Slughorn, most teaching assistants either returned to the field or took jobs at other schools after completing their assistantship.

Of course, there were exceptions to this process. Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers could not be hired in this manner due to the fact that the position was cursed: no one had stayed in the role for more than a year in decades.

And there was the strange case of Professor Binns, who taught History of Magic. Binns was in the process of training his teaching assistant when he died and woke again the following morning to continue teaching his class. Professor Binns’ ghost and his teaching assistant continued to co-teach the course for some time, and many suspected that it was Binns’ lack of confidence in his successor that kept him from crossing over.

***

When Nessa appeared in the Great Hall, where Dumbledore and the four Heads of House were congregated to interview her, Minerva was immediately struck by the way the young woman’s petite figure shown through her burgundy robes as she walked toward them. She had strong facial features, high cheekbones, curved lips colored in a dark lipstick, and creamy skin beckoning to be touched. Minerva would later swear that the way Nessa’s caramel brown eyes smoldered at her when she shook her hand was when she started to realize she was in trouble.

***

Nessa, meanwhile, was trying very hard not to fidget in her seat during the interview. She had a lot of reasons to be anxious, and her youth was one of them. She recalled that the Slytherin Head of House, Professor Snape, had completed his assistantship and moved into his current role while she was a student, not so very long ago. In fact, at twenty-five, she was probably only a few years younger, so at least there was precedent for training someone of her age. Still, she needed to make a good impression.

Earlier that morning, she had chosen her robes carefully, eventually going with a deep burgundy lined with a rose gold vine print. She selected a matching lipstick and mixed a quick hair potion to add volume to her short dark hair. In the end though, stomach filling with butterflies, she wasn’t sure she could come off as fiercely as she looked.

Of everyone present for the interview, the only person whose opinion mattered to her was that of Professor McGonagall. It was she under whom Nessa would be studying, and she knew she had to appear confident in her ability to do so. It didn’t help, of course, that Nessa had had a terrible burning crush on the woman all throughout her years as a student. Of course, she was married back then so it wasn’t a problem.

_It isn’t a problem now_ , she told herself.

“What made you decide to apply for a transfiguration assistantship?” Dumbledore was saying.

“Oh, I…” She took a moment to think, trying not to notice the way Professor McGonagall held her quill with her sinewy, yet elegant hand, ready to record whatever she came up with. She couldn’t look her in the eye, not yet.

The truth was, she loved transfiguration. The idea of being able to change the form of an existing object, of making something new from something old, was thrilling for her, and she had a growing desire to learn more and to share her passion with others. She had worked for a time on a Ministry of Magic architecture project, turning rubble into livable spaces, but what she really wanted to learn was much more advanced. And she wanted to learn from the best.

Perhaps it was as simple as that. It wasn’t her fault that the woman she had to learn from was so very – she snuck a quick glance in the direction of McGonagall’s exposed forearm – beautiful. She hadn’t forgotten her feelings about the professor, but she really hadn’t expected them to still be present after all these years.

In either case, Nessa was determined not to let her feelings be known. She was not about to let wanton desire get in the way of her career. She looked straight into McGonagall’s bespectacled, blue eyes and told her story. When she was done, she could swear she saw the trace of a smile on her thin, perfect lips. She gulped.

Soon enough though, the ordeal ended, and she was shaking hands with Dumbledore and accepting congratulations from the rest of the staff. McGonagall was eyeing her mysteriously, and Nessa hoped she couldn't tell how hot her face was.

***

Her first week was a whirlwind. Somewhere between moving into McGonagall’s office/bedchamber and “Call me Minerva. We’re colleagues now”, Nessa honestly thought her heart would thump right out of her chest. The more time she spent with the woman, the worse it got. She was falling in love all over again.

For several days, Nessa helped Minerva account for a seemingly infinite list of classroom supplies. There was plenty to do, from unpacking boxes to shrinking the contents of those boxes to fit back into the classroom cupboard. Working in such close proximity, it was getting harder and harder to hide her stolen glances, her breathless shock at the occasional touch. She hoped Minerva never noticed, but even worse, she hoped that she did.

***

The truth was, Minerva herself was going through a similar hell, fighting hard to conceal her growing feelings toward the girl. Her every move was calculated, an encouraging touch here, a smile there, nothing that would seem out of the ordinary, nothing that would reveal her secret desire.

It was an awful feeling. Awful and painful and wonderful. Minerva caught herself one too many times checking her reflection at the end of the day, imagining Nessa’s soft hands running through her hair, the feel of her lips on her skin, the -- Ah, but what was the use of it? She was far too old and besides she was her superior, it wouldn’t be proper. But it would be... satisfying.

Minerva looked over at her sleeping colleague in the adjacent bed.

_Woman, you are a fool_ , she thought bitterly.

But as she sunk deeper into the comfort of her own bed, she couldn’t stop herself from thinking about her. It was a queer feeling, being in love, but she was grateful for the change, for the chance to feel young and foolish again, to have a secret.

***

After what felt like endless lesson preparations, students arrived the following week. The two women fell into a pattern, teaching classes in the morning and reflecting on the day’s events in the evening over a hot cup of tea and warm fire. Neither would admit that the fire only increased the sexual tension between them, each of them expertly suppressing the urge to blurt out “Can I kiss you?” with small talk, making concerted efforts to learn as much about each other as possible. They both knew that if the other asked though, the answer would be a resounding “Yes, yes, yes!”

***

This elaborate dance went on for several more weeks until by chance both of their desires were exposed.

On that fateful night, Minerva was standing in front of her dresser mirror, preparing to change into her pajamas. Outside, thunder crashed and rain pelted her office window. She analyzed her reflection, looking for a glimmer of the girl she once was, only to be confronted with the realities of age. Her once supple breasts sagged abominably, and her skin was punched and wrinkled in unfavorable places. She sighed, removing her robe and undergarments, and selected a light nightgown from her closet.

Before she buttoned it up, she looked in the mirror once more, cupping one breast in her hand. Lightning flashed across the room, and the word “wilting” came to mind. She closed her eyes, trying hard not to think about –

Not a moment passed before the bedroom door creaked open.

“Just a moment, Nessa. I’m not decent,” she started.

Minerva turned then, allowing Nessa to stare unabashedly at her exposed breasts. Her heart was beating faster than it had in almost a decade. She felt blood rushing to her face. She knew her embarrassment was silly. They were female colleagues sharing a room. Certainly, this was to be expected. Still, she knew she was doing a poor job at hiding her feelings.

Nessa, as it turned out, was much worse at hiding her feelings.

“Don’t,” she whispered, almost inaudibly, “You’re beautiful.”

Lightning cracked across the room once more, followed by the low rumble of thunder. Minerva felt a familiar warmth growing inside her, and she knew there was no turning back.

***

In the morning, Minerva could hardly believe last night had happened. She couldn’t stop smiling at all.

At breakfast, she noticed that Nessa kept touching her lips, apparently also in a state of disbelief. The two kept sharing knowing looks across the head table, giggling like school children.

“Minerva, what in Merlin’s name is so funny?” Snape growled.

“Not a thing, Severus, not a thing.” She bit her lower lip, trying to contain herself.

Nessa saw her do it, and the giggles started all over again. Snape dropped his utensils in annoyance and left the table, cloak swinging behind him, bringing the two women to hysterics.

As weeks turned to months, their relationship blossomed. Publicly, they kept it professional, of course, but in private, they were smitten.

They knew all of each other’s secrets, their darkest fears, their aspirations. After her assistantship, Nessa hoped to continue her work as an architect, utilizing transfiguration in a very practical way. They both knew this meant time apart for the majority of the year, but both understood how important their work was to them.

***

In the years that followed, the two wrote frequently, keeping each other updated on their daily struggles, their joys, their triumphs. Summers spent together were bliss, and their relationship became a light in the dark as the wizarding world grew less and less safe.

The carefree nature of their relationship came to a screeching halt, when suddenly in June of 1996, Nessa received an owl with a coded message from Professor Sprout alerting her to Minerva’s grave condition after taking four stunning spells to the chest. Nessa stayed by her side day and night, looking back at this time as some of the scariest moments of her life. Minerva, who had survived the deaths of numerous past lovers, could only smile when she woke in St. Mungo’s with Nessa’s sleeping head in her lap, holding her hand as if her life depended on it.

Against several stern warnings, Nessa fought alongside Minerva during the Battle of Hogwarts. After the war, she was instrumental in the redesign of major parts of the castle, a job which went on for years, and allowed the couple to work together once again, as they had when they first met.


End file.
